"This is Beacon, touching down shortly" We stood atop a building, waiting for the helicopter to land on its designated spot.

"First self mission huh?" Neal stood there with a clipboard. "Good luck" After checking off a few things he moved away as the copter landed. The door automatically opened and we got in, Kaz too. We all took a seat and took notice of the box in the middle.

"What's this!?" I shouted over the loud propellers, the pilot motioned to his ears, I first thought that was our answer until I saw the headphones hanging from the roof, we grabbed ours and put them on, even Kaz had a small one. "What's with the box?"

"We don't have much magic in Marivo, some core. So we can't have you all running around in hoods and jackets" We opened the box, it was vest carriers of varying types and sizes. We took them out one by one.

"Oh, they have our names on them" Nicholai had raised a part of the vest, it had the names in white, stitched over a black surface. Everyone's vest were based on their jobs in the team, Nicholai had the medical cross on the right side, along with pouches to carry her stuff, Kenneth, poor guy had it the worst, had many heavy things on him, mainly on the back to carry a special drone...which would be Dave.

"You stuffed my damn bot into a vest bag?" Kenneth turned to the pilot.

"Actually...it was Dave's idea, Dave figured out how to transfer his AI consciousness to other things, this isn't his main body" On a closer inspection, Dave was much smaller, also weilding a small cannon on the bottom of his new body. "Anyways, when you all need me back, call Beacon...me, I should be in your contacts now. I may have other people to transport though so...may take a while" My vest and Sam's were much less packed with stuff, mostly ammo for our weapons along with a single self-use first-aid-kit, Sam also had a slot for her camara. "We'll be touching down in a few, kick back for now" It didn't take long, the area changed as we were greeted by a new place.

"Woah!" Sam almost pushed herself into the window as she looked out of it, while Kaz jumped onto her shoulder . Marivo was a grand city, buildings reached the sky, fancy cars drove across the street, it was the equivalent of a gated community but times ten. There's probably people who're entitled just like those communities... It was a random thought. I noticed another thing, six people walking up to where we were landing, half were armed. I was half enticed to grab my sword just in case, but decided against it when I realized it would make the whole city aggro against us.

"This is beacon! Pilot for Eaxura, we're landing" The six people backed up after beacon spoke. The helicopter landed, we opened the doors and the six people walked forward again.

"Welcome Newcomers, to Marivo! Grand city just outside of Zullo"

"How'd you know we were newcomers?" I spoke while looking at them, they wore fancy clothing, yet I didn't know the word for them, long jackets with fancy patterns, dresses...they were fancy...that was all I could say...

"Well, it's not everyday an unmarked helicopter comes strolling in, I merely made an assumption" Now that they were just a few feet away I could noticed the way they talked, it was with some irritating, condescending tone 'everyone is beneath me' that thing. Footsteps could be heard behind me, as Nicholai and Kenneth walked around the whole chopper.

"So why are you greeting us?"

"Right...so why are you greeting us?" Nicholai spoke, crossing her arms like all the times before, though slightly higher than normal.

"We just thought you all could use a lovely tour of the city, what do you say? It's a big place" Somehow I felt we could manage, even if we hadn't been around Eaxura much, I felt like I could get around there, this place should be no different, seeing the four others looking at me made me realize they felt the same, either that, or they also had another thought I had. People who want us dead are here, it's too much of a risk

"We'll pass"

"Well, I understand that, but perhaps you'd reconsider i-

"I said we'll pass" The man's expression contorted, they clearly didn't like me declining.

"Well, at the very least let me tell you about this lovely pla-

"I'll pass, how about you all? Care for a history lesson?"

"Nope!" Sam,

"God no" Nicholai,

"I'll decline" Kenneth,

Each declined in their own manner.

"I must assure you that this place has a wonderful history, 50 years of grand m- You" He pointed at Sam. "You must care somewhat, after all, someone who takes photos needs to know all the amazing places and spots."

"I'm fine, really" Sam fidgeted somewhat.

"Ar-"

"Buddy, how long do you intend to keep this up?" I interrupted. "We all said no, you got your answer, can we go now? If this city is so grand we'd like to experience it ourselves"

"Ah...I...of course" The man put on a smile, as all of the six did, even I could tell it was fake.

"They felt like a cult" Nicholai sighed after speaking.

"I don't think they are..." Kaz gave her opinion.

"I'll be heading out now!" Beacon called from the chopper, it started up and he soon left into the sky, and Sam waved him goodbye.

"We just call him if we need em back right?" Nicholai was looking up as Beacon left.

"Pretty sure that's the case, we have his contact for that reason...I don't think he'd be here instantly though." We walked past the six people who were murmuring to themselves and down the stairs, we were now on the sidewalk of the city, people roamed around, all of them wearing some fancy outfit.

"Where are we looking first?" Sam asked the crew.

"Wherever the core is, I feel would be best" Kenneth pondered.

"It'd be somewhere important right?" I started scanning the area, looking for anything remotely special, and I soon found it, a skyscrapper-like building off in the distance, standing tall and firm. "Hey Kenneth, you can get charges using your spear right? How about trying to sense a charge, not just take it?" I turned back to him, he was already taking out his spear and aiming it towards the building. He took a deep breath and began to concentrate.

"I got it"

"Really?" I was surprised that it was actually successful.

"It's hard to tell, there's a lot of electricity everywhere, but I can sense a difference...a slight difference"

"It's a core, it should be pretty different right?"

"We're also far away Sam"

"That's true" I took more looks at the people around the place, there was just something off-putting about everyone, they didn't just look or seem right, it was more so the way they moved and how they acted, like machines.

"Should we?" Kenneth looked at me.

"Shall we what?"

"Get going?"

"O-oh! Right, yeah, we should, it's not much of a risk, and we have some time"

"To the ominous building then" Nicholai smiled slightly before we all set out, at first I thought I spaced out when the street repeated, or we got stuck in some loop, yet when I turned around, the people who we passed before were there, showing we didn't get placed back where we were earlier. Seeing that made me realize how specific this place is, if there was no reason to change it, it looked exactly the same on every street, houses, stores, businesses, it was definitely unsettling.

"Major Deja vu here" Sam spoke softly.

"Thank god I wasn't the only one to notice" The names of the buildings weren't the same, they were actually the only difference on these streets, at the very least it showed we were actually moving.

"I couldn't imagine living like this" Sam continued. "There's nothing breathtaking or...or even remotely picture worthy" Hearing that reminded me of the six from just a little while ago. Could they already know why we're here? They may have tried to kill us had we taken the offer. I couldn't prove it, but the way they seemed, and how awkward they acted, it wasn't off the table.

"Newcomers! Welcome to Marivo" I almost reacted to it in a way that would've blown our cover, if that was still a thing we had, however I soon realized it was a different person, a person at the edge of the sidewalk, there outfit was majorly different from anyone elses, yet it didn't reveal what they were, there wasn't a chance it didn't have some special meaning, not even the six from before had different outfits. "If I may ask, what reason do you all have to be here?"

"Just got the chance to see new worlds, figured we'd use it" I gave an almost instant answer, but not without a small delay, the others couldn't even get a word out.

"Ahhah, of course, staying in one world too long can be boring" I saw a color change in his eye...yet it didn't cover his eye completely, it was actually moving inside it.

"Well, a pleasure to meet you" I held out my hand, putting on a smile.

"No no, the pleasure is mine" He grabbed my hand and shook it, I looked him in the eye, I couldn't see it, but I was sure it was text. A sharp pain hit my eye and I squinted. Corruption...again...Yet, as I squinted my eye, I saw a line appear, the line soon curved into a circle around the words, zooming a portion of my vision on it, it was incredibly disorientating, but it worked, I could see it much better now even if I didn't need most of them. The only words I needed to see were 'they're here'. The moment I read the words I swung my left leg into theirs, knocking them down onto the floor, I could tell the others were surprised by what I did, but before they could asked I spoke.

"They know who we are! Follow me!" I broke into a sprint and the others followed. The streets were all the same, telling them apart was nigh impossible, but I knew we had to get that core, and at least something. I planted my foot to turn around a corner, I kept most of my speed and tried to focus on what I'd see next, yet all I saw was a jacket when I turned the corner, greeted by the same person at that tavern who killed me and Nicholai multiple times already. I was going to draw my sword until a hand grabbed my shoulder and moved me away, quickly, before anyone could react, Nicholai sprinted forward and kicked the man in between the legs.

"Let's go!" I was stunned for a moment until I remembered who it was, my sympathy for them faded quickly after. "We still heading for the skyscraper?"

"If anyone gets hurt we call in Beacon, we don't know if he's busy so we need to give him time."

"We'll leave calling him to you" We kept up the sprint to the building, though I started to notice Kenneth trailing behind.

"Ken?"

"I stay...inside all day...man..." We were sprinting for a few good minutes, Kenneth's breathing was getting heavier as he tried to keep going.

"You were fine with all the sprints before though!" Nicholai yelled back at him.

"Maybe I just...had stored energy"

"Stored energy?" I started thinking, clearly Kenneth was too tired for that.

"Energy...energy around the area..." I started thinking back. Kenneth sensed energy in the area didn't he? I looked at the buildings. "Hey Crescent! Mind lending us a bit of energy?" However I decided against it, I had another idea. I grabbed Crescent and aimed it back at Kenneth.

"Lee!?" Sam quickly saw where I was aiming.

"I got an idea, it'll probably work"

"Probably!?" Nicholai turned to me as well.

"Do it...I don't care, this is killing me enough as is" Kenneth was getting slower, as such, with no prior contesting I pulled the trigger and fired, instead of the normal shotgun pellets, a blast of energy hit Kenneth, it put him to a stop so we all stopped.

"Kenneth?" Nicholai looked back to her brother. There was a pause, silence momentarily until Kenneth took a breath.

"Back to it!" Kenneth started running again, no longer sluggishly, as though he had never been tired. We all ran, we weren't much farther from the main building.

"See you should never doubt me"

"You aimed a gun at my brother"

"That's true...But I'd never just kill him" Nicholai rolled her eyes at my comment. We made it to the building, a horde of people already waiting for us.

"So, what's the plan now" Nicholai was clearly irritated. I started realizing the fault with my idea. I should have just went along with it...only attacking them when the time was right...damnit...

"I got an idea" They were decently far, I had a few things that could work, however one idea won over. "Sam, can I see your shortsword?"

"Sure?" She handed it over, however, I grabbed it by the chain and wrapped it around the sword.

"Crescent, a round that'll launch you please?" A special bullet appeared, I grabbed the trigger, aimed the barrel at the ground and pulled. The sword was sent flying, before it could go too far I grabbed the end of chain and planted it on the ground with my foot.

"Why're you all standing there! Get them!" The people started running towards us, they all had the same weapon, yet each had its own glow. The sword soon dug into the wall a chain leading from it, to where we were.

"Everyone, grab on!" With both hands everyone held onto the chain. "Crescent! Fire again!" Another loud bang, the chain started pulling, sending us with it. The chain dug into our hands, yet the pain was just bearable, though only slightly. Once we were above the roof of the building everyone got the same idea, we pulled down on the chain, landing safely. Sam pulled the chain, bringing her weapon, and Crescent back to us.

"What's next?" We all looked around, there wasn't a way to get back on ground level, though that was both good and bad, we couldn't be reached on foot.

"Your aim's pretty good right Sam?" When I turned to Sam she was already twirling the chain. "Alright, think you can make that?" It was still far, yet I had hope she could make it.

"No need to ask!" Propping her foot on something, she arched her arm back, she made an L with her free hand as a guide. "gotcha" she whispered to herself as she threw her hand forward and released, the weapon and chain were sent flying, piercing the wall of the building soon after.

"Our weapons should be long enough to let us go down it" The hook on my hilt, Nicholai's scythe, Kenneth's spear, Sam's sickle, they would be enough. "I'll go first!" I leapt off the roof, or attempted to, but Nicholai grabbed the back of my vest and pulled me back. I saw that Sam hadn't hooked the chain onto anything. "Oh...thanks"

"You're welcome" Sam tied the chain onto a door. "Now go ahead."

"Alright!" I leapt off the roof for real this time, slamming the hilt of my sword onto the chain, it started slow, yet soon I accelerated from the downward slope of the chain. "It's not that bad of a slooope!" I started going much faster than should be possible. It didn't take long before I smashed into a window. Glass was strewn across the floor, I could tell some of the glass had stabbed into me. "Goddamn..." I got on my side, moving my arm away to look at myself, most of the glass hit the vest, but a very minor amount had gotten into the vulnerable spots, my shoulder, my side. The others soon joined me, Kaz leapt off Sam and went to me.

"Are you alright?" Being on Kaz's level was weird, I noticed a collar that showed K.C.

"K.C, sounds like Casey" It was a random comment that left my mouth.

"What?" Nicholai looked at me with disappointment as she knelt down.

"Nothing..." Nicholai soon crouched down to look at me.

"You should manage, didn't stab too deep, shouldn't have hit anything important either" She looked at me from a few angles. I went to stand, a few pains in my leg told me I didn't notice a few. "shouldn't have, that doesn't mean push your luck" Sam walked over and extended a hand, I took it and continued standing, but now much slower.

"The core has to be close, I can sense it above us"

"You think they'd have it underground or something" Sam tapped the floor with her foot.

"Seeing how this place is like a cult, maybe they figured it'd be safe" I looked around for stairs, quickly finding some on the other end of the room. "Now, let's get climbing"

"Huh?" Kenneth turned to me.

"Stairs...climbing stairs"

"Oh, much better" Whether he meant it or not...well I didn't know. We jogged to the stairs and began going up, the only time we stopped was to take quick peeks in doors, yet none of them had the core. "If this thing is at the top..."

"Maybe, it could be...ah screw the other floors, we'll check the top first!" I started sprinting up the stairs, being here was risky, unless we burst through a wall we only had up and down.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Oh you're kidding..." As I turned to continue up the stairs I saw Kenneth in the corner of my vision roll his eyes before he started sprinting up as well.

"How's the energy feeling?"

"Getting stronger, I think you're right" With one last burst of energy we reached the top floor, two red, heavy doors were our greeting. Foot after the other I was in front of the door, I pressed my hands against it. "Ready."

"On you" Everyone had their weapons ready. Using my whole body I pushed the door open, hanging from the top of the room was a massive, beaming core, emanating the main light for the room. At the end, a desk in front of a massive window, facing the door, and on a seat for the desk, someone much different from everyone else, their fingers interlocked while their elbows were on the desk itself. We all stood, staring at her for a while.

"I guess I should've expected this" They put their hands on the table, separating them, before standing. Her outfit was different, certain parts of it glowed. "But I guess the saying exists for a reason" Metal bits tore from the walls and surrounded her arms and hand, soon it glowed and formed into something different, like gauntlets. The floor below the desk opened, lowering it down until it couldn't be seen anymore before closing. "Who would have thought a buncha brats would be here" She started walking towards us.

"Hey now, who woulda guessed the leader of a cult did so with an iron fist" It was like a record scratched as everyone looked at me.

"Really?"

"Sorry"

"You boy!" The woman aggressively pointed at me. "You got that corruption in ya, bout time you're purged."

"Come on, we can talk about this no? We just want the core, no biggie right?" It was a very obvious lie, but I couldn't really think of anything else.

"I ain't letting your little posse take it again" She arched her arm back as the gauntlet began sparking.

"Break!" I dove to the side, my choice made clearly right as a blast of energy impacted the wall. I saw the others on the ground as well.

"Coulda told us what that meant!" I heard Nicholai's voice.

"My bad, I just blurted it out!" We all stood, I took notice that I couldn't see Kaz anywhere, when she left was unknown to me. As the dust from the blast subsided, the woman was present, she stood with certainty. I began to stand, gripping my sword with both hands. The moment I blinked, I saw the woman's gauntlet just about to hit me, yet things were slowed, I thought I would be too, but when I moved slightly I noticed I wasn't restricted to the slowdown. "What th-" Before I could finish, time resumed and the gauntlet hit me in the stomach, forcing me to my knees as I held it. "God..ngh" Next I heard a barrage of gunfire before a hand pressed on my shoulder.

"You broken?" As Nicholai's hand kept pressing against me, the pain numbed, but was still there.

"Still standing for now" She took her hand off and held it out, by some weird instinct I just slapped my hand against it, pretty much giving a high-five. When it did hit I noticed a quick blue color around me, once it showed I felt better.

"Let's get back to it then" I got back up, not getting hit this time. That slowdown...I had the same feeling as when corruption helped with that guy's message... Corruption was aiding me, for some reason that I didn't know, that of course doesn't mean it's trustworthy. I looked around the room for the woman, once I saw her, I also saw Sam just barely dodging one of her swings, using the chains on her weapons to pull herself out of harm's way. I went to load another shell into my sword, but I was reminded of the other barrel, the place for ammunition was a bit bigger than the shotgun shell, it still surprised me that this was in a sword.

"Crescent, can you load a round into this one?" It didn't, which gave me one idea, I had to load it myself. "Course...later then" I flicked the sword up, closing it as normal.

TTS Active

Lee: Team, I got an idea

Nicholai: Speak then

Nicholai had separated from me, going over to the other two to provide support.

Lee: Kenneth was able to redirect electricity using his own stuff, how about we do that here? We can redirect it back to the core later.

Kenneth: Hopefully it won't put too much strain on me

Lee: You'll have time, Sam and I will cover ya, Nicholai, if possible can you use that healing power to easen the strain?

Nicholai: I can try

Lee: Better than nothing, let's do it then!

All: Break!

TTS Deactive

Kenneth and Nicholai launched away, trying to lose focus.

"Sam!" I made a pulling motion. I fired a heavy shell at the woman, forcing her to tumble forward all the while Sam threw one of her weapons at me. Once in range I moved slightly out of the way to grab onto the chain instead of the main weapon and when I did, I pulled it as much as I could. Sam came barreling forward, once possible she kicked the woman before breaking into a spin, still barreling towards me.

"Leeeewewewewe" I was stuck being stunned by how fast Sam became a blur. Against my better judgement I quickly rushed forward and held my arm out. If I wasn't a DT, the force I was hit with would've taken off my arms, but instead of that, I spun slightly as well. "Gueh..." In my arms, Sam was heavily slouched, her head spinning.

"Are you okay?"

"Eeehhh" The ground crackled, I did my best to fire a shockwave shell at the ground, joining Nicholai and Kenneth.

"Why're you over here?" Nicholai looked over at me.

"Watch Sam for a moment!" I set her down before launching back over to the woman, her gauntlets had changed, it had fire all around it. She raised her fist and slammed it into the ground. The floor around her shattered, and it didn't take long until the ground in front of her broke too, and soon it kept going in a straight line towards me. I couldn't block it all if I wanted, but if I did nothing it would reach the others, as the ground was ready to break, time slowed once more, and I felt drained along with it. I took a breath, there had to be something I could do, if our powers fit our roles and lives, there has to be some sort of protection skill I can use. A sight...no, more so a vision, it was me, an older me, they looked more calm, more prepared but...also more scarred, an eyepatch on their right eye, the same eye that was corrupted for me...a bandaged arm too...but they didn't let that persuade them. The older me held onto their sword tightly, right hand up against the hilt, the left hand at the bottom of the handle, they turned the whole sword making an X with their arms while the blade of the sword pointed to the bottom left of them. A beam of unknown origin was just about to hit them until a barrier appeared, a symbol on the other side of it, but it was too faint for me to see.

My sight soon came back. what was that...why did it happen!? Before I had anytime to question time resumed to normal, following what I saw I held it the same way, moving the same way, I closed my eyes expecting impact, but nothing ever came, only the noise of metal impacting something. I reopened my eyes and saw the barrier, but it looked fainter along with missing the symbol the one I saw had. When the ground breaking subsided I fired a shell into the smoke, when I heard it hit something metallic I launched my way over, slashing mid-air. In the middle of it I felt resistance, but just managed to cut through.

"Damn brat!" I went to slash again but Crescent was grabbed, a fist through the smoke was coming towards me. I let go of Crescent and ducked under it, when the chance came to me, I resummoned Crescent and slashed forward, leaping back soon after. I didn't feel right, a part of me wanted to fire a shell to escape their grasp so why did I do that instead? I shook my head, thinking about it now was pointless and only made it more risky. Through the smoke once more, a fist in the middle of slamming down. I quickly stepped to the side, slashing upwards, it seemed to have prevented the ground from shattering again. As the smoke began to fade away, I could see her just faintly through. I took quick steps before jabbing my sword forward. The woman quickly raised her right hand, but the sword pierced right through, I couldn't help but smirk at it. I pulled the trigger to fire, yet nothing happened. Wait..,I looked more closely at her, not a single cut was there, all the bullets, slashes, not a single thing was still there. I tried to resummon Crescent but was unable, I tried to pull it out but was unable. I looked at her hand, flesh had reformed at the wound, along with Crescent. She purposefully dug the blade deeper into her hand, soon it was fully through, anytime I tried to yank it out, her flesh reformed, keeping me from doing so.

"What...is that!?" She eventually made it to the hilt, I was about to run until she grabbed me by the throat, her gauntlets crushing it. I took out my knife and attempted to stab any weakpoint, to no avail, she grabbed my knife by the blade and pulled it from my hands.

"Runts like ya, outta learn their place!" She spun the knife around and jabbed it into my stomach before dropping me. I landed on my back, my lower body became numb. I looked over to the others, the core had some sort of glow to it, more than before, but the energy it had was fading. The woman started walking over to them, soon breaking into a sprint. Closing his fist, Kenneth aimed it at her, sending a blast of energy. It stopped her for a moment, but she began trudging through it, even if it was slowly.

"Damnit..." I wanted to hold down the wound but the knife was in the way, I looked back up at the core, it was losing more energy. Crescent was on the floor now. I could use it...I gotta. I crawled over to it. "Shock..." It was all I spoke, but Crescent understood, a blue shell loading in and I aimed at the core and fired. The burst of energy in the core was sent to Kenneth, and right back at the woman, it kept her still, almost paralyzed. I also took notice of one important thing, the core was shrinking rapidly, until it was the size of a person. It dropped onto the ground with a loud clang but the energy didn't stop. Though wounded, I stood. "sam..." I saw that she was up again. "the...core" Barely hearing me from the distance, she rushed over and picked up the core.

"You shouldn't be standing" Sam made her way over to me, clearly worried.

"Don't have much'uva choice"

"I guess not"

"Ken! Nicholai!" It hurt to speak so loudly, but it gained their attention, they rushed over, Kenneth stopping the energy which caused the woman to go full force into a wall.

"Hell happened to you?" Nicholai looked down at the knife, seeing it was mine.

"I got careless" I paused, before remembering what I needed to do.

TTS Active

Lee: Beacon...we need ya

Beacon: Be there in a minute

TTS Deactive

There wasn't even smoke, the woman just burst from the rubble, more pissed off.

"You bastards!" She didn't sound any different even with our distance.

"Out the window, repeat last time..." My words skipped during some moments, but the idea was clear. The three rushed to the window, when I took too fast of steps I froze as my body felt twisted from the knife. I dropped to a knee and looked back up, I was going to tell the others to prep it, but by the time I was looking up, I was raised as well by both arms.

"I'm gonna start charging you" Nicholai spoke right beside me. Kenneth as well. Sam was still ahead, shooting the window open before throwing her blade at the nearest roof.

"Like hell you do!" The ground shook as the woman approached, but soon even she stopped, but not the shaking. The room was much darker, not only from the missing core, but the lights outside the room having turned off as well.

"This is beacon! Landing shortly" Through the broken window, I could see Beacon's chopper landing where Sam's dagger had ended up.

"How do we get Lee across?" Sam asked the two as we made it over.

"You don't" I blurted out.

"Exc-"

"It's not what you think...I got a plan, just go, it's better than trying some hail mary, lean me on the wall beside the window..." They didn't contest, instead did what was asked.

"That coin brings you back a few seconds before death right?" Nicholai looked down at me as she pressed her hand against the window.

"If this fails, that coin won't let it"

"Guess that's why you're so sure...then good luck" The three started leaving, but the woman began to finally approach.

"You got guts staying here kid."

"Nah...I'm just...a bit dumb..." I loaded in a blue shell in Crescent, firing. It slowed her down slightly, but not that noticeable. I fired again, it was even less effective, after 4 shots, it was useless. The woman stood above me, looking down. I got Crescent away, hanging on Sam's chain that was still there.

"I can see that" She continued looking down at me. I held onto the blade end of Crescent, I was just waiting for something, it had to come soon though. "What made ya think you can do this twice?"

"Twice?"

"You runts have been here before, don't act like it was otherwise"

"I really don't get what you mean..." She looked more irritated. "Listen, recently my memory sucks as is, you think I'm gonna remember something like that?"

"Then I'll make sure you remember!" Her gauntlet charged up, all the while I felt my sword tug.

"Good luck with that" Though it cut me, I gripped onto Crescent as much as I could, the chain clipped off the wall and started quickly going towards the others, pulling me along. It felt like I was being torn in half from how fast it was, even coming to a stop was painful, flinging me into the floor from the sudden stop.

"So that did work" I heard one of them say, as I laid on my back in pain.

"Come on" I was raised from my arms and slowly brought over to the chopper, being put at the edge of it. I leaned against the door, one leg hanging out and the other in, the others got in as well.

"We're heading off, sit tight" The helicopter began ascending, but the roof shook, rubble came from the blast. I held out Crescent and fired a shockwave at the rubble, and just faintly I saw a reaction, a figure moving backwards from the round.

"Avoid shocks all ya want...can't absorb that" I smiled to myself. Though it quickly faded as I saw her approaching again. A sniper, bow, my shotgun, the only reaction was annoyance. We ascended fully, quickly going into the sky. I let out a sigh as I leaned back on the door again.

"Got the core?" Beacon spoke back at us. Sam held it up

"Yup!"

"Good, we'll head back to Eaxura then"

"Think you can manage" Nicholai spoke to me, I looked up at her. A majority of the pain subsided, but I could still feel the pressure from my lower half being numb.

"Probably?"

"Love the confidence" I moved backwards, letting Nicholai close the door.

"Really though...he'll be fine right?" Sam spoke to Nicholai, who nodded before responding.

"He'd have knocked out by now if he was in any danger, I wouldn't use that logic normally, but...that logic works for DTs, so why complain."

"Hey..." Everyone turned to me. "That lady talked about this being our second time doing this...Anyone recall, doing this before?" They all looked at each other in confusion, shaking their heads.

"Not that we can recall" Kenneth answered for them.

"Yeah...Figured, most likely just another group, after all, blonde people exist"

"Oh really, what makes you think that?" Nicholai knew it was a joking remark, yet responded as such.

"Hehe, ow..." Laughing even slightly hurt me.

"Let's not do that again"

"Okay"

It didn't take us long to touch back down on Eaxura, it was a simple venture. Raymond was there waiting for us, smiling.

"Got the core?"

"Right here" Sam hopped out of the chopper, handing him the core.

"Mission well done" I thought on it more, the Teth was active before...so it most likely was another team. "What happened to Lee?"

"I got stabbed...by my own knife" The other two got out, Sam walked back over and held out her hand. "I'll be fine though" I took her hand and stepped out, almost sinking to my knees.

"Well, maybe we can change that knife of yours, after all, it's from the trials, not you"

"Guess that makes sense" I continued to hold my sides even when talking to Raymond.

"I'll get that for ya, for now, get some rest" As Raymond walked away, I felt off. It was odd we got the mission for the core right when we were heading to Marivo, even Neal called it a self mission, thus he didn't know either. We made it back to base with no further issues and i was set on the couch.

"Ready?" Nicholai gripped the knife. "Course you are" without waiting for an answer, she pulled the knife out.

"Fngh" I went to go hold it but Nicholai knocked away my hands.

"I can't patch your hands with your stomach genius." She mostly used magic, however, though I couldn't see, she didn't only use it, something else was done alongside it. After it was done I relaxed, putting my head against one of the arm rests. "Sam, watch him, make sure he doesn't do anything"

"Roger that ma'am!" Sam sat down on the floor with crossed legs, just...staring at me.

"..."

"..."

"You're not gonna do this all day right?"

"Not if I don't need to" I noticed something. "hm?" She tilted her head slightly, seeing my realization.

"Your eyes...weren't that pink before, were they?"

"Not when we were humans"

"Maybe they glimmer too often that they became more pink" It wasn't my real theory, but it was better than making her worry if I was wrong.

"Hehe~" We learned nothing I set my head back to rest...except... The woman's words repeated in my head once more "Again" what other team went there? And why? Are they being hunted too? If that's the case, we should meet up with them, but for now... There wasn't much I could do when my stomach felt twisted, it seems Sam had realized I wasn't getting up and turned her attention back to the TV. I was ready to close my eyes until my HUD appeared in my face with a message from Nicholai.

We going parent hunting later?

-Nicholai

Thought you didn't want me

going out? -Lee

Do you actually intend to follow that?

-Nicholai

Good point

-Lee

In that case, yeah, they sound safe but

I don't want to take any chances -Lee

Alright...also

-Nicholai

Nicholai uploaded an image of herself holding two boxes, they seemed to be food

What is this?-Lee

Which one do you wanna make tomorrow?

-Nicholai

Who said I was making anything?-Lee

You know how exhausting medical magic is?

-Nicholai

Alright...just pick whatever

-Lee

Hearing only the noises of the TV, and Sam's occasional shifting, it wasn't long after I started drifting off, when I did however, I could hear a faint piano, amidst the noises I've been hearing before. This one was different, I knew where it was...but it wasn't familiar to me. An off-world, not normally visible. My eyes opened and sat, not much time had past, the same episode of the show was playing...

"Something the matter?" Sam leaned back and returned her attention to me.

"I...saw something...and heard something too..."

"oh?"

"A piano...and...a place that I don't know, yet it feels so familiar...I need to go check it, before I lose the chance" She was going to respond instantly with a disapproving expression, but it soon shifted. "You don't have to come along, just...don't tell Nicholai"

"What'd I tell her? You're still here" She gave a short wink.

"Thanks"

"You owe me one" I stood up, my balance was still wobbly, upon seeing that she stood too. "Lead the way" I didn't know the name, or the place, but when I raised my sword, without my input I cut the portal open.

"..." I didn't know what to say, this unknown feeling overwhelmed me. We went in, the place was littered with trees but even so, a clear path was in front of us.

"So this felt familiar?"

"yeah...I don't exactly know where to go...but..."

"We'll find the way"

"Right...and I've been meaning to ask, your fear of blood...hasn't really been present lately has it?"

"Oh, I hadn't even noticed, I think it's more from adrenaline, maybe that makes me immune to it, I never really got into fights after all" Sam looked confused, as though she wasn't really confident with that answer.

"Right, I guess when you were watching me most of the blood was pretty much dried"

"Probably the other reason, not really much blood for me to see with all this on..." Upon saying that she looked down at herself. "oh...we hadn't taken this off..."

"Don't blame ya, it's a bit heavy but it's snu-" Cutting me off, was the same piano I heard before, the odd thing, was Sam reacted to it too. "So it's not just me this time"

"This time?" I blurted it out without thinking. The sound of the piano grew louder, approaching. I took a step, a note of another instrument, I took another, the same thing, no music came from Sam, yet with my every step, a violin was played.

"Sam, do you think you can head back to base"

"Huh? But, you can't stand that well..."

"I know...but I can tell whatever this is, it isn't counting you in the picture, the violin, have you heard it?"

"n-..no..."

"Sorry...can you please leave this to me?" She started walking back, but not before she spoke again.

"I can't cover for you if you get hurt more, so don't"

"I'll do my best" I continued onward, the piano, the violin, it begun to play in harmony, even if I paused my walking, my next step would be perfectly on time with the piano. With one lest step, the violin had come to a stop, and from the trees, a figure falling to the ground. I quickly looked over, my curiosity, my confusion with it all, quickly turned to dread and fear, as the figure that had begun to crawl, was nothing more than an aged corpse. Their skin broken and rotted with chunks missing, their face half torn apart missing an eye and ear. Their uniform tattered, yet the letters CSF remained. I took a step back, the corpse continued crawling to me...then I saw it, inside of its skin, just faintly, the color purple. It had turned this poor soul into a puppet. I wanted to throw up, the burning and scratching sensation in my throat made it clear, but I reversed my grip upon Crescent, aiming it down at the poor soul.

"S..." I could feel my heart sink as the corpse opened their mouth. "o..r..r..y" The piano continued playing, why was I brought here of all people? However that wasn't the only thought I had...was someone who was corrupted this badly, really sentient still? They're mostly rotted...missing most of their skin...and...As I thought, the idea of it being the corrupted puppeteering it became less likely, I didn't know this person, if the corrupted had his memory to say sorry to someone, why would they say it to me?...But...if they were sentient...they wouldn't be able to see the person. It was silent for a moment, they weren't able to move towards me anymore.

"It's..."It felt wrong, talking, I wasn't who they were hoping for. "It's Alright...I'm sure whoever you wanted to apologize to understands that" They grabbed onto my sword, pulling down, their desire was clear, no one should live like this, if he was able to move, even if it was just barely the corruptions grasp on him must be weakening, and he can most likely feel every bit of pain. I felt the wind, it was peaceful, carrying leaves with it. "I don't know why I was here...or if I should be...but I can only hope..." With more will this time, I raised my sword. "May you rest with the wind" I brought my sword down, their body releasing one more shudder before they lost movement fully. Something called me...whatever it was...I can only hope they had the same intention of ending your misery. I had decided to not leave them like this, instead, burying them below the best tree I could find, things on them made who they were clearer, a few strands of red hair, a dog-tag "Kain Daifen" the most I could do for a gravestone was rocks, the smoothest I could find to stack, burying him was the hardest part...I had no shovel, but it seems Crescent didn't mind getting dirty, and helped me leverage out some of the dirt...with that, and refilling the grave...we had buried him. The sickness i was feeling hadn't left, that sight of what they had become, someone was responsible...someone had to be. It wasn't just that though, the fact no one had come for them, the fact it got that bad before I came here...there was purposeful negligence. A burning in my pocket was what got me out from thinking, yet it would only bring more questions, my coin, burning like when I was brought back. You're important...not just for bringing me back...and even then...why are you important?

My mind was too cluttered, with no more words to say to the deceased I returned to the base. I immediately sat on the couch, with a familiar person joining me soon after, holding out a pocky stick. I turned over to Sam, she wasn't looking my way, nibbling on her own. I reached up and grabbed one, I hadn't even known my hands were shaking until I grabbed it, shaking her hand too. She looked my way, her expression becoming one of pity.

'What was it?"

"I" Only a single word left my mouth, the rest, stuck like I couldn't breath out. "It...felt like I just killed an old friend" My gaze was empty, not looking at Sam but past her. These feelings I felt, it wasn't because I killed him...it felt like...it was because I didn't feel anything when I did.